‘Every person is God’s gift to us,’ says Marianite Sister Barbara Schreier

For Sister Barbara Schreier, a Marianite Sister of Holy Cross, the desire to enter the convent came after she felt “something was missing,” as a young teacher at Our Lady of Sorrows School, Mercerville.

“There was nothing to make me unhappy. I had a job I enjoyed, I had good friends and family, occasionally I was dating,” she said. “But I felt that something was missing. There had to be more to life.”

It was then the thought “Become a nun” came to her and, after wrestling with the idea for a couple of years, she entered the convent in 1974.

‘Lord … here I am’

Sister Barbara was recently honored for her 50th anniversary at Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy’s graduation ceremony May 2024. Hal Brown photo

After her family dropped her off, she entered the chapel and said, “Lord, I don’t know why you want me, and I don’t know why you want me to become a nun, but here I am.”

After that, she noted a great sense of peace and immediately knew “this was right for me.”

She points to that moment as a defining one for her vocation. She took her first vows in 1976 and her final vows in 1979.

“I have taught many subjects and many grades, served as campus minister, taught religious education and acted as chaplain for parish faith groups, but the constant factor underlying all forms of ministry is the truth that God loves each of us,” said Sister Barbara. “God has a plan for us. God is always there for us, loving us, forgiving us, giving us the strength to get through each day. Every person, not just nuns and priests, has a vocation, a call from God to love Him and to love others. When we respond to his call, then we are happy.”

Born in Trenton to Nicholas and Barbara Schreier, Sister Barbara, the oldest of six children, attended her parish elementary school, Our Lady of Sorrows School, Hamilton. Upon graduation from Steinert High School, also in Hamilton, she received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University’s Douglass campus in New Brunswick. She received her master’s degree in education from Trenton State College, now The College of New Jersey, Ewing, and a master’s of theology from Notre Dame University, South Bend, Ind. Later, she received a supervision of instruction certificate from Georgian Court College, now University, in Lakewood.

Since 1984, Sister Barbara’s ministry has been spent in Catholic education in her hometown at McCorristin Catholic High School, now Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy. The school will reopen as a public charter school in September, and Sister Barbara will remain on staff to teach mathematics to middle- and high-school students.

Joy, struggles and challenges

While she has served joyfully as a Marianite for 50 years now, she acknowledged the struggles and challenges she encountered over the years.

“The biggest challenge of being a Sister is to be faithful to this call of God,” Sister Barbara said. “Our society is so goal-oriented, it is difficult to remember that what is important is the person. Every person is God’s gift to us. To treat a person with love and respect can at times be difficult, but it leads to our greatest joy – union with God and with others.”

While she has spent many years developing the faith lives of those students in her care, she also has grown in her own faith.

“As a Marianite of Holy Cross, I learned to appreciate every Sister. Each one of them, without exception, had a personal experience of God’s call and willingly shared her joys and difficulties as she lived out that call. The Sisters’ love and concern for one another was real and practical. Sisters came from different countries, spoke different languages, worked in different ministries, but no matter what, each was a valued part of community. Where there is a Marianite, there is the congregation.”

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